Most Popular Cars with Thieves

The Cadillac Escalade remains one of the most stolen cars in the U.S., according to the Highway Loss Data Institute.

But the top of the list is also studded with a bunch of heavy-duty pickups.

The group’s latest study shows that the Escalade’s popularity with thieves is high: Four versions of the Escalade appear at the top of HLDI’s list of 2008-10 vehicles with the most theft claims.

Escalade owners are stacking up theft losses that are more than 10 times larger ($114) than the average car ($11 worth of theft loss).

The data come from insurers that represent about 80% of all privately owned vehicles. Understandably, the information doesn’t include information on uninsured cars. Unlike the most-stolen vehicle list we reported on earlier, which tends to be dominated by best-selling cars, HLDI says its list is a better indicator of how likely a given car will be targeted.

On average, pickups, including the Escalade EXT, had higher dollar amounts of theft loss ($24), compared with SUVs ($12) and cars ($9). HLDI suggests that’s because fewer pickups have ignition immobilizers, and owners may keep property in the bed of their trucks, making it easy to steal. “A pickup that can’t be driven away is still vulnerable to having tools and cargo snatched from its bed,” HLDI Senior Vice President Kim Hazelbaker said.

Outside of trucks and luxury cars, the Chrysler 300 has the highest theft rates of any passenger car, HLDI says. On the other side of the spectrum, the Audi A6 with all-wheel drive saw the fewest claims, while the Mini Cooper Clubman saw average theft losses of just $1.